Easyhotel eyes expansion

Budget hotel chain easyHotel is considering further expansion after its results for the six months to 31 March exceeded expectations.

It said the performance was mainly driven by owned hotels like-for-like revenue rising by 8% in the period compared with the same period last year, benefiting from the new revenue strategy announced in December 2015.

It is now reviewing potential acquisitions in all major UK cities including office conversions, greenfield development sites and the conversion of existing hotels with retained agents, Hanover Green.

Six new hotel projects are in the pipeline, including properties in Liverpool, Birmingham and Ipswich. The company’s first owned hotel outside the UK is due to open in Barcelona in early 2018, subject to planning permission. Hanover Green acted on the UK purchases.

Chief executive Guy Parsons said: “We are very pleased to report that during the first half of the financial year our operational initiatives and strategic focus have had a positive impact, earlier than originally anticipated, on our trading performance and expansion of our development pipeline.”